Harry and the Magic Fedora
by crazytrain321
Summary: When Harry Potter enters his vault at Gringott's on his 11th birthday, he finds something that changes everything.
1. Chapter 1

Harry and the Magic Fedora

Chapter 1

Meeting George

Griphook opened the vault door and turned to the boy behind him.

"This is your vault, Mr. Potter. Take a look around."

The 11-year-old wizard was astounded. All his life he had never had more than a few pence to his name, and now he found himself with enough money to spend £1000 a day for the rest of his life and not make a dent in the vast amount of wealth in this vault.

"This is all MINE?"

The goblin nodded. "Actually, this is just the trust vault, Mr. Potter. The main Potter vault is about 25 times as big. You might want to consider getting an ancestry test done; you never know who you might be related to."

"Sure, that sounds like fun."

10 minutes later, Harry had only scratched the surface on his trust vault. He was mesmerized by all the gold and silver lying in mounds 10 feet high. He could probably buy a small country, and not even start to spend his inheritance.

He was about to head back when he saw a green striped hat sitting on top of one of the piles of silver. He then felt the overwhelming urge to take it with him, so he reached over and grabbed it. He then headed out of the vault back to Hagrid.

"Got your money, Harry? Hey, you found your dad's fedora!" shouted Hagrid in his gruff voice.

"This is my dad's?"

"Yeah, he wore it all the time, even at Hogwarts. Always said it was a guide for him, no idea what he meant. He must have hid it in the vault before he died. Try it on. Don't worry, it's yours."

Harry stopped a minute, and then placed the fedora on his head.

_Who is this? _ Said a gruff voice with an American accent.

_You can talk?_

_Of course, I can talk! Now who are you?_

_Harry James Potter, sir._

_Oh please, the name is George, kid. Did you say James? You wouldn't happen to be Jimmy's kid?_

_Actually yes, George. He died when I was a year old._

_I'm sorry, Harry. Jimmy and I were great friends. How are Sirius and Remus?_

_Who?_

_You don't know Sirius and Remus? They were Jimmy's best friends. I assumed that they raised you together._

_No, I was raised by my Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon._

_Not Lily's sister! You weren't supposed to ever go near those evil twits!_

_Well, what can I do about it?_

_Well, first where are we? I vaguely remember it from when Jimmy would come here, but my memory is a little groggy from hibernating for a decade._

_We're in Gringott's, getting money for school supplies. I'm starting Hogwarts. I did say it right did I?_

_Don't worry about Hogwarts, Harry. You're starting this year? Awesome, I can say hi to Polonius._

_Who?_

_A friend of mine at Hogwarts. I think you'll like him. Anyway, since we're at Gringott's, you need to request a meeting with Steeltongue. He was your parents' account manager the summer before they died. He will be able to show exactly what has been going on with the accounts since they died. He can also read you your parents' will._

_OK. I'll make sure to do that. Thanks, George._

After twenty minutes in the cart riding through the vaults, they finally reached the lobby.

"Hagrid, I need to talk to the teller about something."

"OK, Harry. Just make it quick, we need to get all your things today."

He walked over to the teller.

"Excuse me; I would like to see whoever the account manager for my family is."

Normally, the goblin would have ignored a child asking questions unexpectedly. However, this kid was acting very polite for a wizard, so he decided to humor the kid.

"What's your name, kid?"

"Harry James Potter, sir."

The goblin's eyebrow twitched. The Potters were famous among the goblins thanks in part to their politeness to all creatures. Even their house elves were treated like members of the family. Steeltongue, the old account manager for the Potters had become the head of Gringott's, second only to Ragnok in authority in the goblin nation, and yet he remained the Potter's manager even after they had passed on. This was going to be interesting.


	2. Chapter 2

Harry found himself sitting on a bench in a waiting room outside an office. After he told the teller (politely of course) what his name was, the teller all but dragged both him and Hagrid to this waiting room. It was 15 minutes since then, and he was getting very nervous.

_I feel like I'm waiting to go in the principal's office like at my old school._

_Don't worry about it, kid. I doubt the goblins are anything like those idiot Muggles. _

Harry nearly jumped at the sound before remembering that it was just George. A few minutes passed.

_Ah, memories. I remember many a time when Jimmy and I would wait outside Professor Dumbledore's office when he, Sirius and Remus would be caught doing pranks on people._

_They were pranksters, huh?_

George laughed._ Oh, yeah. They were known as the Marauders. Oh, we had so much fun at Hogwarts! _

"Mr. Potter? Director Steeltongue is ready to see you now."

Harry walked into the ornate office, hearing George say _Director? He must have finally got that promotion he always wanted. Remember, Harry: be polite at all times. The goblins are pretty easy to insult. Tread carefully, OK?_

Harry nodded, and then saw an elderly goblin behind a massive desk.

"Greetings, Mr. Potter. I am Steeltongue, Director of Gringott's Bank and the Potter family account manager."

"Hello, Director. I was interested in how much I am worth. I would also like to hear my parents' wills, please."

Steeltongue's eyebrows rose. It wasn't common for a wizard of any age to show respect to a goblin, but then again this _was_ the son of James and Lily Potter.

"Of course, Mr. Potter. I already have the portfolio right here." He opened the file on the table and began to read through it. "Your family has 16 vaults here in Gringott's, all filled to capacity. In total, you are worth approximately 16,827,391,012 Galleons. Given our current exchange rates, this translates to 84,136,955,060 British pounds. If we converted all the gold to troy ounces, the gold would be worth 118,969,654,454,840 British pounds. And that amount increases all the time, by the way."

"118 TRILLION POUNDS!"

"That is only the gold, Mr. Potter. That does not include all the properties and stock you have. I have a list here. You are the major stockholder for Madam Malkin's robe shop, Ollivander's wand shop, Quality Quidditch Supplies, Zonko's joke shop, Florish and Blott's bookstore, and that's just the magical businesses. You also have major stocks for GM, GE, Microsoft, Apple, Wal-Mart, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, McDonald's, BP, Aston Martin, Volkswagen, BMW, IBM, Audi, Ferrari, Universal Studios, Disney, Shell, ExxonMobil, the list is practically endless. The bottom line is you are the richest human being on Earth."

Harry's jaw dropped to the floor. He thought Hagrid was kidding about his parents having a lot of money.

"You also wanted to see your parents' wills. I happen to keep it in a drawer in my desk." He then issued orders in goblin language to an employee. A moment later, the same employee came in with a TV and a VCR.

"The Potters made a video recording about a month before they went into hiding. This is the tape of that recording." He pushed the VHS into the player and pressed play.

A screen came up with the words **Potter Last Will and Testament recorded 14 September 1981.**

After a moment, the image of a spacious sitting room appeared, with four people sitting on twin couches. Two were obviously his parents, the man a virtual twin of Harry, the woman with the same piercing green eyes**.**

"I, James Sheldon Potter, Head of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter, of reasonably sound mind – shut up, Padfoot! – and incredibly handsome body – shut UP, Padfoot! I'm not kidding! – declare this my last will and testament. Now, since this is currently a time of war, I could die at any moment. In the horrifying event of my death, I wish to leave 50,000 Galleons each to my dear friends Sirius Black, Remus Lupin and Peter Pettigrew. I leave everything else to either my astonishingly beautiful wife Lily or my already handsome son Harry. If it is Harry that becomes the primary beneficiary of this will, then I want to enact the Rite of Succession law. Steeltongue will know how to explain, Harry. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you, but hopefully you had lots of fun with Sirius and Remus. That's it for me, your turn Lily."

The redhead sitting next to the bespectacled man nodded and began to speak.

"I, Lily Rose Potter of the Most Ancient and Noble House of Potter, of sound mind – at least I have a mind, you idiots! – and sound body – do that again Padfoot and I'll have you neutered! – declare this my last will and testament. Okay then, I leave 15,000 pounds to my sister Petunia, and everything else goes to either my idiotic husband James or my son Harry. And that's it for me."

James started speaking again, "A couple other things, for the record. Lily, Harry and I are going into hiding soon, and we'll be hiding via the Fidelius Charm. Originally, the Secret Keeper was to be our friend Sirius Black. He has convinced us to change our minds at the last minute to our other friend Peter Pettigrew. So if anything happens to us, just look for Peter.

"Also, we would, of course want to raise Harry and any future Potters ourselves, but in case the tragic event of our deaths occurs, we want Harry to be raised jointly by Sirius Black and Remus Lupin. Under no circumstances may he be sent to Vernon and Petunia Dursley. They hate all things to do with either of us and frankly, we don't trust them not to hurt Harry."

The tape ended there and the TV turned off. The room was silent for a moment. Then Harry asked, "His middle name was Sheldon?"

George laughed at that.


End file.
